


At Mountain's Wake

by rainbowblue13



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Slow Build, i just want them to be happy ok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-11-28
Packaged: 2018-04-22 23:05:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4854023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowblue13/pseuds/rainbowblue13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where there is no Wendigo curse on Blackwood Pines. Or any curse for that matter. Just 10 kids on a winter getaway who pull a prank on one of their friends and have to gain back their trust.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Moving silhouette

**Author's Note:**

> An idea I had while thinking about how the others would react if the twins had made it back safely.

“Where’s my sister going?”

Beth looked at her friends in confusion as her distress grew slowly but steadily.

“Ugh, it’s fine… she just can't take a joke…” Jess replied nonchalantly, shrugging it off as she glanced back at the lodge.

“It was just a prank, Han!” Em called out to the storm, although her words lacked concern.

“What did you do?” she could hear the accusation in her voice as she looked at each of them.

“We were just messing around Beth… it wasn’t serious--” she turned to look at the storm raging in front of them and then back to Mike, clearly fuming.

“You JERKS!” Beth backed up and turned around, going straight into the storm.

“Hannah! HANNAH!” As she ran after her sister, Beth followed the path in the forest; not that it was much of an aid, considering the wind in her eyes and the snow blowing fiercely were considerably interfering with her sight.

“Oh shit!” she felt a tree branch smack her in the face, but brushed it off, not slowing down. Beth had known something was wrong when she read the note the others had set up for Hannah. This was only proved when she saw a silhouette-- which she now knew was her sister-- run into the snowstorm from the kitchen window.

What did they do?

After running into some elk, Beth walked past them and noticed scarce footprints leading to a small ledge. “Dammit Hannah, where are you?” she said to herself. Once she dropped down, Beth realized the footprints were close to invisible now in the darkness, so she took out her phone and turned the flashlight on. 

“Hello? Helloooo?”

It took a few more minutes for her to see the hunched over figure in the small forest clearing. “Hannah?!” she called out.

Her twin looked up from her position when she heard Beth's voice. “Hello?” her voice resembled a whimper and it made the brunette want to cry.

She quickly sped up her pace and realized that Hannah had been definitely crying and those jerks were gonna pay for hurting her sister. At the moment, however, she chose to worry about the issue at hand, which was that her twin was out in the snow and she was barely wearing any clothes. “Hannah! Oh my god, you must be freezing,” she unzipped her parka as she said this, taking it off and placing it on Hannah’s shoulders, “Here, take my coat.”

Accepting Beth’s jacket, she felt a sob rip through her, “I’m such an idiot! I’m so dumb…” she cried, standing up as her sister held her hands soothingly.

“You’re not dumb, Hannah, they were all being a bunch of jerks.” she said, internally wondering if the word was gonna lose its meaning after using it so frequently.

“I can’t believe I fell for it,” she mumbled, sniffling, "So stupid..." Beth looked at her sister pitifully and put an arm around her shoulders.

“You’re gonna get sick out here, if you didn’t catch anything yet. Let’s go back to the cabin and--”

She shook her head furiously, backing up slightly. “I- I don’t wanna go back! Th- they’re all gonna be there a- and Mike--” she sobbed, not being able to finish her sentence.

"Come on sis, you don't have to talk to any of them. Let's just head back, okay? Josh must be worried sick over you!" Beth knew this was probably a lie, since the chances of their brother being up and awake after drinking so much booze were minimal; but she needed to bring her sister back.

Hannah didn't show any signs of agreement, but she wasn't fighting Beth either. The twins trudged back to the house in silence, with the sound of Hannah's occasional sniffling filling the cold air.


	2. Worn Floorboards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group waits for Hannah and Beth

“So… should we go after her?” Mike said, although a little reluctant.

 

“Y’know, I kinda think you’re the _last_ person she wants to see right now, Mike.” Sam mocked, the accusation clear in her voice.

 

Everyone was quiet for a moment before, unexpectedly, Ashley spoke up. “We should go inside then, right?”

 

She was quickly met with a few confused expressions. “I- I mean, they’re gonna come back eventually and, well, if we aren’t gonna go after them, there’s no reason for us to just... stay out here.” For a moment, she was afraid she said the wrong thing. Did they think she was being selfish? I mean, after joining on a prank like _that_ \--

 

“Bambi’s right, we shouldn’t need to freeze our buns off waiting for Hannah,” said Emily, gesturing towards the house, “Plus, don’t you think Josh and Chris are gonna freak out if they wake up from their party nap and the entire house is empty?”

 

Ashley felt her guilt jump up when Em mentioned Josh. How were they going to explain what happened? _Oh um, by the way, we tricked your sister into total embarrassment while recording the whole thing. And then she ran out into a blizzard, so your other sister followed her and we haven't heard from them since. Whoops!_

Without a word, they all walked back inside, their footsteps heavy against the worn floorboards. As the girl sat down on the staircase, she felt an increasing sense of worry circling inside of her. What if they didn’t make it back? What if they fell down somewhere or they got hurt? Or what if Beth didn’t find Hannah and she came back alone? Oh god how would they tell the Washingtons? How would they tell _Josh_ \--

 

She didn’t want to think about that. _Don't freak out Ash, they’re probably fine._ Or as fine as they can be after what they did to her. Would she even forgive them for that?

 

Ashley didn’t want to think about that either.

 

Instead, she chose to look around her, taking in the details of the home and the people in it. She did that sometimes, delving herself into her surroundings to calm down or take her mind off things, but mostly when she was worried crazy over something.

 

She looked over at Jess, Emily and Mike, who were settled on the couch. Emily had her neutral expression on, which could only be described as “mildly irritated”, as she looked out the window from where she sat. Mike had a permanent furrowed brow and pursed lips, looking around the room like Ashley. Jessica, however, was slightly fidgety but seemed mostly fine. She wondered how Jess could keep it together when it was technically her fault--

 

_You were part of it too, don’t act so innocent._

She looked at Matt.

 

Quite frankly, he looked extremely guilty. Maybe it was because he was the one holding the camera (where did it go, anyway?) or because he had a better sense of consciousness than the rest of them. It didn’t stop him from helping out with the prank, though.

 

They were all guilty on some level for doing that to Hannah. Well, obviously not including Josh and Chris-- who were still passed out--  and Beth (who wasn’t back yet why weren’t they back how far did Hannah run?). Oh, and also Sam. Ashley thought back on how Sam was the only one who actually _tried_ to stop it, although there wasn't much Josh and Chris could have done in their condition.

 

 _Don’t you guys think this is a_ little _bit cruel?_

 

It was. It had seemed like a fun idea at the time, but how would she have felt if it was the other way around? It was hard for Ash to relate, though, considering that she didn’t really have a crush at the moment. Thinking back on it, she never really had a crush on anyone. And no, she was not including John Forde from 4th grade because those crushes don't even count.

 

Thinking about Hannah again, she wondered how much worse it would be to not only have a crush on a guy who was taken, but to have him only see you as a friend. And they had made fun of her for it. What if she had had a crush on one of her friends? What if she had been into Josh or Chris or Matt?

 

What if _she_ had been the one to have a crush on Mike?

 

Ashley didn't like where that train of thought was headed.

 

"Should we wake them up?"

 

Everyone turned to the source of the sound as Matt shrugged, leaning against the staircase. "Josh and Chris. I mean, they've been passed out for a while now."

 

"And tell them what, exactly?" Jess crossed her arms across her chest and sighed, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm not in the mood to explain to Josh why his sisters ran out into the storm."

 

Ash was still astounded at how normal she was acting in a situation like this. It was a talent, really.

 

"He kinda has a right to know, don't you think?" Matt objected.

 

"I don't think it's a good idea," No one was surprised to see Sam speak up, considering she was technically the "mom" of the group– which she constantly denied. "They're gonna wake up eventually, and the least we could do is spare Josh the anxiety of waiting for Hannah and Beth to come back."

 

Ashley looked over to the couch and thought Jessica had a guilty expression on her face, but she couldn't tell, "She's right; let's just wait for him to wake up."

 

And as if on cue, someone shifted from the kitchen counter.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I genuinely apologize if they're out of character. And if the writing's weird. But I do like where the story is headed.


	3. Peanut Gallery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris doesn't know what's going on, and the shouting isn't helping.

_Oh god I am_ never _drinking again._

 

Chris knew he had no alcohol resistance, but he still got carried away. He always did when he drank with Josh.

 

_"C'mon Cochise, can'tya handle another cup?"_

 

He noted that he also had no resistance to peer-pressure, but pushed the thought aside.

 

Fortunately, once he regained consciousness, he realized the thumping in his head wasn't as bad as he expected. It still sucked though, and it took some time and effort to sit up straight on the kitchen stool. His heart skipped a beat when he realized he couldn't see anything, but quickly remembered he probably just didn't have his glasses on. Chris patted around the kitchen counter with his hands, and when he felt a familiar object within his grasp, he noticed that it was oddly quiet. Nervously, the blonde put on his glasses and looked around.

 

He blinked, his headache worsening when he stood up. Groaning again, he used the counter to steady himself and glanced over at Josh. His out-going, "life of the party" friend was out cold, head buried in his arms. Chris chuckled slightly at the sight. _Looks like I'm not the only one who crossed their limit._

 

"Where's the peanut gallery?" he muttered to himself, standing on his own feet slowly so he wouldn't lose his balance again. He opened the door leading to the large staircase and saw the rest of the group, all settled in different spots. Sam, who was sitting next to the fireplace, was the first one to notice him.

 

"Josh?" Well, even if she didn't know it was him.

 

Before he could open his mouth to correct her, everyone else turned to look at him. Chris froze for a moment, having ever been in a situation where everyone was staring at him in... fear?

 

"Uh, guys?" he spoke up, a bit nervous, "What's going on?"

 

Everyone was silent for a moment, but before Chris could ask again, Ashley interrupted.

 

"We pulled a stupid prank on Hannah and she ran out into the storm and then _Beth_ went after her and they haven't come back yet and we don't know where–"

 

"Woah wait, slow down–" he frowned, his slurred mind trying to keep up.

 

"We left a note for her and said it was from Mike," by this point she was in tears, and Chris had walked over so he was closer, "It was supposed to be funny! But then she– she left and then Beth– oh my god they just ran out! God, why did we think it was a good idea?"

 

"It was just a joke–" Em interjected.

 

"And it was fucked up." Mike finished for her, looking up at the ceiling as his girlfriend stared at him in surprise.

 

"Well– okay yeah, it was pretty mean. _Really_ mean," Jessica huffed and sat up, pacing around the room, "Maybe even 'fucked up', but it didn't mean she had to run out into a freaking snowstorm with no jacket."

 

Chris had been silent through all of this, processing the information (which was quite hard to do with a hangover, let me tell you). From what he could gather, they pulled some prank involving Mike, something went wrong and Hannah and Beth ran out into the storm?  He was still very confused.

 

Before he could ask for more information, he saw Sam, who was eerily quiet through all of this, glaring at Jess. "Just because she has a crush on Mike doesn't mean you had to ridicule her for it!"

 

"Oh, come on, Miss I'm So Perfect And You're All Evil Dickbags," Said Emily, getting up and standing next to Jess, "We already _know_ we screwed up, so why don't you just shut up because your bitching isn't gonna help!"

 

Sam looked like she was about to retort before the sound of the front door opening made everyone jump.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know a lot hasn't happened yet, but I reeaally want to develop this story as much as possible. Comments always welcome and criticism always appreciated!


	4. The Pacifist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam has a few things she wants to say.

That was the last straw. Sam was so done with them. Was Jess really trying to blame Hannah, of all people, for all of this?

After the "death" match was interrupted, everyone stood up quickly and ran to the door. Sam went ahead of the group to see better, pushing down the anxiousness that was eating her up inside. Beth was standing under the doorframe, shaking slightly, with the parka she was wearing earlier discarded. She couldn't see Hannah.

Sam's heart caught up in her throat, her worry spinning out of control. They started asking questions, but Beth shut them all up.

"Listen to me, you assholes," she glared at them, her eyes saying murder, "All of you are gonna go into the kitchen and stay there until I come back for you. Hannah doesn't want to see any of you guys yet, and with good reason. Chris, come with me, I need some help." She gave Sam one hard look before walking back outside, Chris following closely behind. Sam stood there, confused for a second: why was she mad at her of all people? But then she realized Beth had no idea she tried to stop them, or that she wasn't a part of the joke. At the moment, she thought her sister's best friend had been on board with the prank. Sam knew now wasn't the time to correct her, though.

Somberly, they all shuffled into the kitchen and stood around, the tension palpable in the air. Josh was still sleeping, lightly snoring. Debating with herself mentally, Sam chose to be the first to say anything.

"No offense guys, but seriously, what the fuck were you trying to do?"

"Wow, it's took you less than five minutes to start bitching again." Emily rolled her eyes, leaning against the counter. They all ignored her comment.

"I- I don't know," Mike admitted, rubbing his eyes. He seemed to be acting more normal now than he did back in the living room, "But the point is that she's back, right? So we can just apologize and get over it."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that after tonight she's gonna be over very much over you." Where was all of this coming from? Obviously, Sam was pissed at them for pranking Hannah, but she wasn't the type of person to start up fights; she was basically the pacifist of the group, for god's sake. "Sorry, sorry, I just... that was really uncalled for guys."

Jessica sighed, sitting down on the stool across from Josh, "Yeah, I know... I mean it was supposed to be fun–"

"We're gonna have to come up with a better apology than that." Ashley interjected, her arms crossed over her chest defensively.

"If she even forgives us." Matt added, looking at the floor pensively.

They all stayed quiet after that, leaving Sam to her own thoughts. What would it be like if Hannah didn't forgive them? Maybe the group would split up, but she couldn't really see that happening. It just felt... wrong. Although they all had their flaws, they also had something to make up for it. Emily's bitchiness would drive her to defend her friends. Mike's impulsiveness made him the bravest. Ashley's sensitivity made her caring. Jessica's occasional shallowness was just a side effect of her confidence. And Hannah's naivety made her joyful, her happiness infectious to everyone around her.

Hannah.

"She'll forgive you." Sam said, looking out the window, "In time."


	5. A Few Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hannah's back at the lodge

Her teeth were chattering, her eyes were sore, she was cold all over and her heart was broken. Basically, Hannah Washington was feeling like crap.

By the time her sister brought her into the house, Hannah was done crying. _Maybe I just cried out all of my tears._

Beth guided her upstairs, holding her protectively while Chris lagged behind them. She thought she saw him stumble a few times on the way up, but she didn't care.

"Come on, honey, keep walking."

She hadn't even realized she had stopped moving. Numbly, Hannah followed her twin sister again, clutching the pink parka Beth had given her with her cold hands.

"I'm gonna take her to the bathroom, can you go get some clothes from her room?"

"Uh, y– yeah, sure. Of course."

As she gave Chris directions, Hannah stared down at her feet. She noticed she and Beth had left snow footprints on the floorboards, brought in from outside.

"We stained the floor." she mumbled, not knowing if she was interrupting their conversation. There was a beat of silence before Chris replied.

"Oh, um, I'll clean it up, don't worry 'bout it." he slurred, nodding his head slightly.

"Hey, Han, we need to get you cleaned up too, okay? C'mon." Beth guided her to the bathroom, her arm never leaving her shoulders. Once she set her down on the edge of the tub, the brunette kneeled down to look up at her. Hannah noticed her sister was also shivering from the cold, probably since she had given up her jacket for her.

"Do you wanna talk about what happened?" Hannah shook her head, looking away from her sister's gaze.

She saw her nodding out of the corner of her eye, "Okay... okay... I'm gonna let you take a bath to warm up. I'll go take care of a few things, don't you worry."

"Isn't it weird you're taking care of me even though I'm the older one?" Hannah said, staring at the minuscule patterns engraved on the floor.

"Just by a couple of minutes, don't flatter yourself," Beth stood up, so the black haired girl turned to look at her leggings, "Plus, that's what sisters are for."

"You're gonna go yell at them, aren't you?" Although it was meant as a question, it came out more as a statement, a confirmation. "You shouldn't. I'm the one that was dumb enough to fall for it anyway."

She heard the other sigh, sitting down next to her roughly. Beth was never the kind of person to move with agility, usually opting for quick and sloppy. "Look at it this way: if  I punched someone in the face, was it their fault because they didn't have time to fight back?"

Hannah shrugged.

"I already yelled at them some. And I'm gonna go yell at them some more, in case they didn't get it through their goddamn heads already. Because that was really fucked up of them, and no one deserves what they did to you."

She finally looked at her sister, taking in her sharp cheekbones and determined expression. "Thank you." she said it in a hushed voice, and she wondered if Beth even heard it before she was pulled into a tight hug.

After her twin had left the bathroom and Hannah prepared a warm bath for herself, she closed her eyes as she felt a sob build up in her throat.

_ So much for crying out all of my tears. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im sorry it took a while for this chapter to come by and that it's just a quick filler, but the point of this fic is to see how the group would interact with each other if there had been no tragedy, so I wanted some Beth and Hannah sisterhood bc goddamit they deserve it
> 
> also thank you so much to people supporting this fic through kudos, comments, etc. it really motivates me to keep writing!


	6. Ultimate immersion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jessica thinks to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took quite a while and I'm afraid some people here are out of character, but oh well.
> 
> Special thanks to BlurryFace for inspiring the main conflict in this chapter and for the undeserved praise (I really appreciate it).

Jess rocked back and forth on her feet, looking down at her crossed arms. Her mind was racing with very conflicting thoughts, battling between extreme guilt and self defense.

_I thought it was going to be funny!_

_But come on, what did I think would happen afterwards? That Hannah would just laugh along?_

_Well, she was always too sensitive– and she flirted with_ Mike _! Who is totally taken by Emily. You can’t just do that._

Back and forth, back and forth her mind went.

She told the others that she just needed to use the restroom– which was a lie. Okay, so what if Beth told them to stay in the kitchen? It’s not like she left the house or anything. She sat in the movie room, gazing at the large screen while plunged in darkness. As her thoughts kept racing, Jess kept telling herself that the reason she couldn’t stay in there was that she was shaken up from what had happened. That she just wanted to take a breather. But deep down she knew what it was.

She didn't wanna be there when Josh woke up.

Objectively, she wasn’t the only one to blame for the prank. It was Mike that stood as bait. It was Matt that recorded it. It was Emily that encouraged it.

But it was Jess that planned it. It was Jess who came up with it.

She tried to pinpoint the moment where she thought of the prank: a couple of weeks before the get-away, maybe? _I just wanted to help my friend–_

_and screwed over 3 of them in the process._

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe those excuses she’d been making up earlier were true, at least subconsciously.

While resting on one of the deluxe chairs of the movie room, Jess realized that she was actually exhausted. It was around, what? 1 a.m.? 2? She couldn’t remember, her mind turning foggy as she fell into deeper sleep.

She was never a light sleeper, being able to drone out her alarm when it blared in the early morning. But even in her sound slumber, she was suddenly aware of faint noise that she couldn’t quite place. She thought nothing of it, still in a hazy state, before remembering that the home theatre was supposed to be sound-proofed. “For the greatest, ultimate immersion!” Mr. Washington had told them.

She rubbed the tiredness out of her eyes and looked around. Everything seemed the same as before, and no one was there. Which meant the sounds were coming from outside the room.

_If this place is sound-proofed, they’ve gotta be making one hell of a racket._

There was a bad feeling settling itself at the bottom of her gut– just like when Hannah ran out of the lodge. Jess stood up in a flash and practically ran outside to see what was happening, her heart thumping.

It took the blonde about 5 whole seconds to process what was unfolding in front of her– there was quite a lot going on.

Ashley was in hysterics, crying and yelling as she paced from side to side and made extreme hand gestures. Sam was trying to calm her down and seemed to be failing miserably. Mike was lying on the floor, his hands held up above his face, Emily was sitting next to him and asking 50 questions a minute, her eyes wide and frantic. Matt was holding back Josh’s hands as he struggled, his face contorted into such rage that Jess couldn’t help but being scared– no, terrified. She began to put the pieces together before Josh managed to take a few steps forward, Matt still holding him back.

“You’re gonna fucking PAY you DICK!” he spat out, and kicked Mike in the balls. As Mike curled up in pain from the hit, Matt pulled Josh back again in an attempt to control the man. Ashley kept sobbing.

“Josh, Josh, listen to me,” it was Sam, holding Ashley’s shoulders protectively, “You’re not thinking straight–”

“Fuck OFF!” he slurred, his steps wobbly. He’s still drunk.

The comment made Sam flinch, her eyes clearly showing her hurt.

Jessica turned to look at Mike, who was now curled up into a fetal position. His hands were clutching his crotch, and she could now see his bruised face scrunched up in pain, gritting his teeth together.

No one had noticed her yet from behind the staircase, and she was too shocked to make a sound. At least not yet.

“What are you gu– oh no.” The girl heard footsteps rushing down the staircase, revealing themselves to be Beth and Chris. Josh didn’t even look up, glaring at Mike with extreme fury.

“What the FUCK were you trying to do?!” Josh kept rambling and struggling from Matt’s restraint, although he wasn’t fighting as hard as before. “She’s my little sister, you asshole!”

Mike managed to uncurl himself from his previous position on the floor, using his right hand to balance himself on the floor. The other still held the area between his thighs.

“I- I’m sorry…” he whimpered, not able to look up into his eyes.

Chris started talking to Josh in a low voice, whispering words of comfort. Beth, Emily and Sam helped Mike stand up as he winced and groaned in pain. Ashley kept crying however, slightly curling in on herself without Sam to console her.

“Oh my god, will you stop fucking crying? YOU’RE not the one who got half-beaten to death!”

Everyone turned to look at Jess, just as surprised as her for the sudden outburst. Ashley was dumbfounded, but tears still fell down her cheeks like tiny waterfalls.

“Okay, how about everyone gets their head out of their ass, sits down, and stops starting up more drama!?” Emily glared at everyone, still holding Mike’s shoulders as if to steady him. “This night is clearly a fucking train wreck, so maybe we just need to not start up more shit.”

Beth looked as if she was going to snap back at her, but thought better of it and stayed silent. Wordlessly, everyone settled in the living room again, except for Josh and Chris. The blonde guided the other to another room of the house, leaving the seven others to an awkward silence. As she settled next to Matt on the couch, Jess thought about what Em had said. _“This night is clearly a fucking train wreck.”_

 

To her credit, she wasn't wrong.

 


	7. Mental Math

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt wonders if the girls start up too much drama.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, THANK YOU to every positive and constructive comment on this! It's one of the things that drives me to continues this story :)  
> Also I finished Life is Strange today and I am in pain, but this kinda cheered me up, thankfully.

_You shouldn’t have so many girls as friends_ , his dad once told him.  _They start up too much drama._

Matt always disagreed, even if he never said it out loud. It’s not that he had any problem with having guys as friends; he would trust about all of them with his life. Well, maybe not his _life_ , but with a lot of other things. He always felt that it was easier to talk to girls. They were more open with feelings, and much less likely to say something like _“That’s pretty gay.”_

He didn’t blame them (slight homophobia aside), considering the stigma there is with guys and… well, feelings, in general. But that’s why he never minded having a majority of female friends. Even if Emily would complain about a lot of things, and occasionally Jess and Sam had arguments about makeup being tested on animals, there wasn’t major drama in their group of friends.

Until Hannah started to crush on Mike. That’s when stuff really went downhill.

There were some friendships stronger than others in their group, and no one minded, but once they noticed the way she stared at class president Mike Munroe, it felt like people were taking sides. You were either with Emily or against her, and Matt felt the smart choice was being on her side. He knew the kinds of hell she could unleash on people, and no matter his views on the actual situation, he did NOT want to be on the receiving end of that.

Apparently, taking Emily’s side didn’t mean he was completely spared.

“I still can’t believe you broke my camera, Matt. It cost like a thousand dollars: do you know what a pain in the ass getting another one will be?”

_How painful can it be if your parents could buy you an entire freaking island?_

Thankfully, he bit back the comment he had in mind.

“I said I was _sorry_ , Em–”

“Well, ‘sorry’ isn’t gonna magically fix it.”

He sighed in exasperation and turned to look at Jess, silently asking for help. She just shrugged in a sort of “ _Nothing I can do_ ” way.

“Y'know, Em, that goes for a lot of things.” Beth practically growled.

From the second they sat down, Beth was alternating from glaring at Emily and Jessica. She was clearly mad at everyone, but Mike was being medically assisted by Sam and the other two were obviously the masterminds of the prank.

Matt was expecting Emily to answer her with a meaner retort, or for her to explain her innocence again, but she just stayed silent, looking quite guilty.

Now, seeing Emily with a guilty face AND being quiet: those were two things you’d never see her do. Then again, tonight had been home to a lot of firsts.

After a very, very uncomfortable silence, Jess spoke.

“I’m sorry Ashley, by the way. For, like, yelling at you and stuff.” she played with her short hair, which had been undone from its ponytails earlier, as she stared at the floor awkwardly.

Ashley seemed surprised, nodding dumbfoundedly. “It’s okay. I- I know I can get pretty hysterical sometimes.” After a beat of silence, she added, “Thank you for apologizing, though.”

Jess shrugged, not looking up from the floor. “It’s whatever.”

More silence passed.

“I’m sorry too.” Ashley admitted. When everyone turned to look at her, she blushed pure red. “Like, for just crying and being pretty useless all night. I’m just shaken up from… well, everything.”

“You don’t have to apologize for that, Ash.” Sam told her, giving her a small smile from where she sat next to Mike.

“Yeah, everyone is just as shaken up. You’re probably the only one that reacted rationally, all things considered.” Jess laughed slightly at her own comment, which made Matt smile. That was kind of true, he admitted.

Silence.

“Hey, Jess?”

She turned to look at Sam, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“You know that chiffon shirt of yours that you never found? And I told you I had no idea where it was?”

“Yes…” she said tentatively.

Sam smiled meekly.

“Oh my god, I knew it!” Jessica exclaimed. And although she was trying to look angry, there was a smile creeping up on her face. “There's only _one_ person that would steal from me just to prove a point.”

“I _told_ you that you needed to lock your gym locker.” Sam taunted, smiling from ear to ear.

Jess sighed in exasperation, not fighting the soft smile on her face anymore. “Well, I started locking it since then, so you better give it back.”

“Yeah, yeah, I will. Sorry for keeping it so long, it kinda slipped my mind.”

“Speaking of clothing items, I’m sorry about accidentally spilling strawberry vodka on your cocktail dress.” Emily mentioned, looking at her nails as a distraction while smirking.

“My god, does everyone here have something against my wardrobe? Seriously!” Jess seemed genuinely concerned, but almost everyone else was stifling a laugh at the situation.

“Maybe they’re just jealous, Jess.” Mike said, sitting up straighter in his spot and smiling cockily.

“Oh come on, if anyone has an envious closet, it’s Beth.” the girl giggled, but not with malice, as she turned to look at the girl in mention.

Suddenly, everyone was very interested in what Beth had to say, waiting for a response. She looked at all of them, her eyes hard and sturdy. Then, without a word, she walked out of the room and headed to the kitchen.

And then more silence.

Matt turned to look at Jess, whose expression reminded him of a hurt puppy.

“Hey, that wasn’t your fault. She just needs, like, time for– to forgive us.”

She looked up at the dark-skinned man, smiling sadly, as if she was resigned. “But it _is_ my fault. She has every right to be pissed at me. Hell, if I was her, I wouldn’t even forgive myself. Ever. It was dumb of me to try and banter with her like we used to.” The way in which she said it made Matt think she hadn’t forgiven herself at all.

_Well, have_ you _forgiven yourself yet?_

_No_. The answer came to him before he even thought about it in depth. He doubted that anyone that took part in the prank had forgiven themselves yet.

Well, maybe except for Emily.

As if on cue, Emily sighed, her eyebrows knitted together. She had this crease right above her right eyebrow when she did that.

“So, we’re down to six.” she muttered.

Matt started subconsciously counting the amount of people in the room, an exercise his math tutor had shown him. _It helps you remember numbers for when you do mental math_ , she had told him.

It was himself (he always counted himself first, he usually forgot otherwise), Jess, Emily, Mike, Ashley and Sam in the room, except…

“Where’s Sam?” he asked, craning his neck to look around the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Ashley and Jess and Emily bantering and being friends = yes.
> 
> Where did Sam go? That will be answered in the next chapter (which will probably be uploaded in weeks, knowing myself).

**Author's Note:**

> All comments are welcome and constructive criticism is encouraged. Sorry if my upload schedule is wonky, but I'll try to not wait 3 years in between uploads.


End file.
